Rance Crain inducted into AAF Advertising Hall of Fame

New York—Rance Crain, president of Crain Communications Inc. and editor-in-chief of Advertising Age, was inducted into the American Advertising Federation's Advertising Hall of Fame during a ceremony here Monday night.
The AAF Advertising Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to advertising and society.
Crain, who began his journalism career in 1960 as a reporter for Advertising Age, a sibling publication of BtoB, reflected on his more than 50 years covering the advertising industry during an acceptance speech at the 64th annual Hall of Fame awards ceremony.
“When I was a reporter for Ad Age many, many years ago, we lived and died for scoops,” Crain said, recounting an anecdote of how he tracked down a breaking news story about the new head of the National Advertising Review Board late on a Friday afternoon.
“The advertising business has gotten a lot more complicated since those days, although we still appreciate a good scoop,” he said. “The digital age has raised the hope that the industry can come closer to predicting not only when consumers are ready to buy but also putting the ad in front of them that will trigger the click that closes the deal.”
Crain becomes the third member of the Crain family to join the AAF Advertising Hall of Fame. His father, G.D. Crain, founder of Crain Communications, was inducted in 1975, two years after his death; and his mother, Gertrude Crain, was inducted in 1997, a year after her death.
This year's other inductees are Shelly Lazarus, chairman emeritus, Ogilvy & Mather; Philip H. Knight, co-founder and chairman of Nike Inc.; Bob Giraldi, film director and president of Giraldi Media; Byron E. Lewis, founder and chairman emeritus of UniWorld Group; Gerry Rubin, co-chairman of RPA; and Bob Scarpelli, former chairman and chief creative officer of DDB Worldwide.